Profile I joined Aston School of Life & Health Sciences in January 2018, having previously been Reader in Cell & Gene Therapy Bioprocessing at UCL.

I graduated with a PhD in cell and molecular biology from Cardiff University School of Dentistry in 2006. My thesis, under supervision of Prof Phil Stephens and Prof David Thomas, focussed on dysfunctional behaviour of skin fibroblasts in chronic wounds that fail to heal. This underpinned my longstanding interest in why some tissues fail to heal and how stem cells and regenerative medicine might be applied to restore failing tissues and organs.

I moved to UCL at the end of 2005, undertaking post-doctoral research first at Eastman Dental Institute (2005-2007) to continue studies into regenerative medicine and then at the Institute of Ophthalmology (2007-2009), where I studied the molecular basis of angiogenesis and neurogenesis with Prof Christiana Ruhrberg.

I joined UCL’s Department of Biochemical Engineering in 2009 and established a successful multi-disciplinary research group working in the area of regenerative medicine, cell & gene therapy. Our research interfaces cell biology with bioprocessing, biomaterials and novel devices. My work spans fundamental research through to applied and translation studies with industry and clinical collaborators. I have been awarded funding from EPSRC, BBSRC, MRC, Wellcome and Innovate UK.

I am a strong supporter of initiatives to promote the UK biosciences sector and the successful translation of life science discoveries to society. To this end I recently won a HEFCE Catalyst grant at UCL, where the team will develop new education programmes to deliver and grow the skilled workforce needed to sustain the sector.

I have won over £2M in grant funding as principal investigator, published more than 60 peer-reviewed papers and am a visiting professor at Dankook University in South Korea.